Blueprint

I am currently reading three books, which I would highly recommend to anyone.
The Wounded Healer, The Sacred Romance, and Captivating.


I talked with a dear friend last night. She shared some frustrations. I listened closely. And although she may have thought that she was the only one feeling the way she did, every word she shared echoed in my own heart. And this was the question that I continued to ask even after we hung up the phone. "How do we know when loving a person requires us either to hang on or to let go?"

Look around, how many people in this world actually stay anymore? I look around and I see parents quitting their children, teachers quitting their students, friends quitting one another, husbands leaving wives, wives cheating on husbands, lovers of Christ turning their back on the church and their faith. Why do we leave one another? Why do we look the other way? Is it easier? Does it mean that we'd rather look out for ourselves rather than the ones we promised to love?

Where is the line? When are we compromising all we hope for in Christ and when are we compromising our own dreams in order to gain Christ and share His love with others?

Are they one and the same? I don't think so. I think at some point God will call us out of our comfort zone. I believe He will challenge us to stay commited to people and places we would rather not. I believe that He will cause us to grow in those circumstances. And in those places He will bring joy and blessing. But I also believe God gives us other challenges...such as discerning the call He has placed in our hearts, such as loving others without necessarily pleasing them, such as letting go when we feel obligated or comfortable enough to hold on.

I believe God calls us to faith. And walking in faith will challenge us to trust God for every relationship, for every circumstance, for every decision. There is no formula. God is God. He does not live in a box. But He has placed His blueprint in our hearts. That is where we find Him; that is how we follow the mystery that beckons to us when we are most unsure, when we are questioning what should seem right and secure and yet only feels like a sentence to death. The blueprint leads us to life.

God, give us the eyes and the courage to follow what you alone have placed within our hearts. Help us to see when loving someone requires us to stay and when it requires that we let them go.